Kosta Browne Amber Ridge Vineyard Pinot Noir 2007
-
Connoisseurs'
Guide -
Wine
Spectator
Product Details
Your Rating
Somm Note
Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
-
Connoisseurs' Guide
This collection of new Pinot Noirs raises the bar for the variety. It rates with the best showing from the best Pinot makers in California, and this outstanding wine comes out at the head of an altogether remarkable class. It is at once deep and profoundly fruity with a lavish display of optimally ripe cherries and perfectly fit oak, and, although high in extract and muscle, it is uncannily well-balanced and never less than brilliantly controlled. For all of its show-stopping richness, it is still far from its best, and only the sure promise of better with time keeps us from savoring it now.
-
Wine Spectator
Dense aromas of tar, gravel and fresh earth join chunky, chewy dark berry flavors. Deeply concentrated.—Kosta Browne non-blind vertical (March 2011). Drink now through 2019. 727 cases made.
Other Vintages
2009-
Wine
Spectator
-
Wine
Spectator
-
Wine
Spectator
-
Wine
Spectator
Founded in 1997, Kosta Browne is one of North America’s most revered wineries, recognized for making some of the world’s finest Pinot Noirs and Chardonnays. Located in Sebastopol, Sonoma County, and guided by an acclaimed team that includes renowned Winemaker Julien Howsepian, Kosta Browne makes appellation and single-vineyard wines from the most coveted cool-climate vineyards across the Russian River Valley, Sonoma Coast, Anderson Valley, Sta. Rita Hills and Santa Lucia Highlands appellations. In addition to partnering with the finest growers in California, Kosta Browne has an estate program that features 170 acres of vineyards through ownership or long-term leases that includes the Cerise Vineyard in Anderson Valley, Keefer Vineyard in the Russian River Valley, and a prized section of the Gap’s Crown Vineyard on the Sonoma Coast. Kosta Browne has earned a place on Wine Spectator’s annual list of the world’s “Top 100 Wines” seven times since 2005, including “Wine of the Year” in 2011.
While the Russian River Valley is a large appellation with multiple climate zones and soil types, it is best known for cool-climate varieties, with Pinot Noir as the most celebrated. The grapes benefit from a reliable late afternoon flow of Pacific Ocean fog through the Petaluma Gap and along the Russian River Valley that ensures slow and steady ripening and the preservation of grape acidity. Today many of California’s most highly regarded Pinot Noir vineyards are in the Russian River Valley, along with its sub-appellation, Green Valley.
Historically Russian River Valley Pinot Noirs had bright red fruit and delicate earthy, mineral notes. But changes in viticultural and winemaking practices have led to stylistic changes in some of the region’s wines. Adjustments to canopy management, among other techniques, have resulted in riper fruit and bolder wines as well. These show flavors of black cherry, blackberry, cola, spice and darker, loamy earth tones, accenting traditional Pinot Noir notes of strawberry, raspberry and light cherry.